New polio cases in Pakistan edge closer to record

A senior Pakistani health official says seven new polio cases have been registered in the country, raising the number of those affected by the disease this year to 194 and edging closer to the nation's record number of 199 in 2001.   Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio is endemic. The highly contagious virus is transmitted in unsanitary conditions but is easily fended off with a vaccine.  However, efforts to eradicate it are hampered by the Taliban, who have banned immunizations and attacked polio vaccination teams across Pakistan.  Rana Mohammad Safdar, a senior official at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad, said on Friday that the new cases were from the northwestern tribal region where it's impossible to launch an anti-polio drive because of threats from militants. (Source: AP)